[Extract of a letter from Mr, Sheldon (No. 2) to Mr, Adams, dated
Paris, October 16, 1823.]
I took an early occasion after the receipt of your dispatch No. 1, of
the 10th August, to communicate the subjects of it in a conversation
I had with Viscount de Chateaubriand. His observations in relation to
that of the claims, as connected with the pretensions of France under
the Louisiana treaty, were of a very general nature and amounted to
little more than a repetition of his readiness to enter upon the
consideration of whatever subjects of discussion might exist between the
two countries and the expression of his satisfaction at the prospect of
being soon relieved from the labor which the affairs of Spain had thrown
upon him, and having thus more time to devote to those of the United
States and others not of the same pressing nature. He avoided any
intimation of a disposition to take up the claims by themselves, and
it can hardly be expected that the French Government will at this time
relax from the ground they have so lately taken upon that point. I
informed him that I should communicate in writing an answer to the
overture made by Count de Menou at Washington for uniting in a new
negotiation this subject with that of the Louisiana treaty, in substance
the same as that gentleman had already received there, and should again
press upon the French Government the consideration of the claims by
themselves; to which he replied that any communication I might make
would be received and treated with all the attention to which it was
entitled on his part.
_Mr. Sheldon to the Viscount de Chateaubriand_.
PARIS, _October 11, 1823_.
SIR: Mr. Gallatin, during his residence as minister of the United
States in France, had upon various occasions called the attention
of His Majesty's Government to the claims of our citizens for the
reparation of wrongs sustained by them from the unjust seizure,
detention, and confiscation of their property by officers and agents
acting under authority of the Government of France. During the past
year His Majesty's ministers had consented to enter upon the
consideration of these claims, but they proposed to couple with it
another subject having no connection with those claims, either in its
nature, its origin, or the principles on which it depended--a question
of the disputed construction of one of the articles of the treaty of
cession of Louisiana, by virtue of which France claimed certain
commercial privileges in the ports of that Province. Mr. Gallatin had
not received from his Government any authority to connect these two
dissimilar subjects in the same negotiation, or, indeed, to treat upon
the latter, which had already been very amply discussed at Washington
between the Secretary of State of the United States and His Majesty's
minister at that place, without producing any result except a conviction
on the part of the Government of the United States that the privileges
for French vessels, as claimed by the minister of France, never could
have been, and were not in fact, conceded by the treaty in question.
A stop was then put to the negotiations already commenced in relation
to the claims, and with which had been united, on the proposition of
the French Government, and as being naturally connected with it, the
consideration of certain claims of French citizens on the Government
of the United States.
The chargé d'affaires of France at Washington has lately, on behalf
of his Government, expressed to that of the United States a wish that
this double negotiation might be resumed and that a definitive
arrangement might be made as well in relation to the disputed article of
the Louisiana treaty as of the subject of the claims upon the one side
and upon the other. The Government of the United States has nothing
more at heart than to remove by friendly arrangements every subject of
difference which may exist between the two countries, and to examine
with the greatest impartiality and good faith as well the nature and
extent of the stipulations into which they have entered as the appeals
to their justice made by individuals claiming reparation for wrongs
supposed to have been sustained at their hands.
But these two subjects are essentially dissimilar; there are no points
of connection between them; the principles upon which they depend are
totally different; they have no bearing upon each other; and the justice
which is due to individuals ought not to be delayed or made dependent
upon the right or the wrong interpretation by one or the other party of
a treaty having for its object the regulation of entirely distinct and
different interests.
The reclamations of American citizens upon the Government of France
are for mere justice--for the reparation of unquestionable wrongs,
indemnity or restitution of property taken from them or destroyed
forcibly and without right. They are of ancient date, and justice has
been long and anxiously waited for. They have been often represented to
the Government of France, and their validity is not disputed. Similar
reclamations without greater merit or stronger titles to admission
presented by citizens of other nations have been favorably received,
examined, and liquidated, and it seems to have been hitherto reserved
to those of the United States alone to meet with impediments at every
juncture and to seek in vain the moment in which the Government of
France could consent to enter upon their consideration. Although the
question arising under the eighth article of the Louisiana treaty has
already been fully examined, the Government of the United States is
ready, if it is desired by France, and if it is thought that any new
light can be thrown upon it, to discuss the subject further whenever it
shall be presented anew by France to their consideration. But they are
convinced that by blending it with the claims not only will no progress
be made toward its solution, but that these last, standing upon their
own unquestionable character, ought not to be trammeled with a subject
to which they are wholly foreign.
I am instructed to bring them anew before your excellency, and to
express the hope of the President that His Majesty's Government will not
continue to insist upon connecting together two subjects of so different
a nature, but that the claims may be taken up on their own merits and
receive the consideration which they deserve, unencumbered with other
discussions.